Long Island

by Colm Toibin

Scribner/ S&S

May 7, 2024

    The story of Eilis Lacey continues in this sequel to Brooklyn. She is just as lovely, deep and unpredictable as she was, but now has children of her own, a husband and his extended family to deal with. Eilis retreats to her childhood home in Ireland when her husband's infidelity is revealed, and the vividly portrayed people in that town that she left behind.

    I hope this is the middle book as we are left wanting to know much more.

If you would like to know more about this book, or own it, please check with your local bookstore or this great place bookshop.org. Most places will have it available to pre-order.

 Anita de Monte Laughs Last 

by Xochitl Gonzalez

Macmillan Publishers

    This is a strong, delightful look at inclusion, the art world, learning to deal with university life, and much more.

    Money, family and status are deciding and dividing factors for Raquel Toro as she navigates her final years at Brown University. Her coming to understand all these as having too much control of her life is juxtaposed against her learning the story of Anita de Monte - another well drawn character based on the life of Ana Mendieta, a deceased artist with very similar issues to overcome.

    There is humor and stress as you wait for Raquel to recognize her own worth and just how slimy and controlling her rich, white boyfriend is. Worth the ride.

If you'd like to learn more about, or purchase this book, please check your local independent bookstore or this great place bookshop.org .

 Wandering Stars

by Tommy Orange

PenguinRandomHouse

    This book deserves all the accolades it is getting. The family's history is beautifully done with never an overstatement. The hard-fought love and reliance of the contemporary family echoes back generations.

    The writing is beautiful and harrowing. The descriptions of getting high may force you to get up and take deep breaths to mediate their strength.

    An amazing work of art that should not be missed.

If you'd like to know more about this book, or purchase it, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place bookshop.org.

 Ferris

by Kate DiCamillo

Candlewick Press

    What a great read. And I'm not a middle-grader.* The beauty of language shines through all the wonderful characters in this book. There is so much love in the family and friends, even the exterminator. DiCamillo manages to so completely present each character in a minimum of words, it's amazing.

    And the vocabulary glistens - teaches without ever being condescending or even feeling like learning. Who knew a mess of moths was an eclipse?

    I hope we get many more books about the fabulous Wilkey family and their friends.

    * I worked at an S&H Green Stamp Redemption Center in high school.

If you'd like to learn more about, or purchase this, or any of Kate DiCamillo's fabulous books, please check your local independent bookstore or this great place bookshop.org

 The Warm Hands of Ghosts

by Katherine Arden

DelRey Books/PRH

    This is a beautifully written novel of WWI - a nurse who has returned, injured, from the war and loses most of her family in the Great Halifax Explosion chooses to return to the war to try to find her younger brother.  The war scenes in the trenches and the hospitals are described in chilling detail, as is the depiction of evil as a force that destroys souls - this is not a book you'll soon forget.

    We don't get anti-war novels quite as beautifully done as this.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or own it, please check with your local bookstore or this great place bookshop.org .